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8thInternationalWoodpeckerConference,March16-20,2019,Białowieża,PolandBookofAbstracts,editedbyDorotaCzeszczewikandGilbertoPasinelli

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ORGANIZING

SUPPORTERSANDSPONSORS

8thInternationalWoodpeckerConference:

Conservation&EcologyofWoodpeckersMarch16-20,2019

Białowieża,Poland


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TABLEOFCONTENTS

Welcome……………………………………………………………….…………3

Committees,organizers,sponsorsandsupporters……..…...5

Program……………………………………………………………………….….6

Plenarytalks…………………………………………………………………..11

Oralpresentations………………………………………………………….14

Posters……………………………………………………………………………36

Excursioninformation………………………………………………….…57

Programforaccompanyingpersons……………………………….58

Listofparticipants………………………………………………………….59


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Welcometothe8thInternationalWoodpeckerConference

Białowieża Forest – hosting the last remnants of European primevallowland forest – welcomes participants to the 8th InternationalWoodpecker Conference to Białowieża – the main village in this uniqueplace. As previous internationalwoodpecker conferences since 1989, thecurrent one aims to bring together woodpecker researchers from acrossthe globe and to provide an international forum for discussion on howwoodpeckerresearchmayimproveourunderstandingofbehavior,ecologyand conservation sciences. The title of the conference „Conservation &EcologyofWoodpeckers”waschosentounderlinethatwoodpeckers,asagroup, are specializedbirds thatneedprotectionof theirhabitats–evenmore so todaywith the ongoing, and in parts of theworlds intensifying,useanddestructionof forests.Accordingly,weareveryhappyabout theinterest that this conference has raised among researchers andconservationistsinterestedinwoodpeckersandforests.Asaconsequence,wewill be able to enjoy a fantastic arrayof talks andposters ondiversetopics, so that each of c. 110 participants representing 20 countries isexpectedtobenefitfromthisconference.

The conference follows the path of previous scientific meetings onwoodpeckers organized by the Special Interest Group Woodpeckershttps://www.fachgruppe-spechte.de/ of the German Ornithologists’Society(DeutscheOrnithologen-Gesellschaft-DO-Ghttp://www.do-g.de/),which launched the initiative also for this meeting. The conference hasmainly been organized by Siedlce University of Natural Sciences andHumanities, the Museum and Institute of Zoology, PolishAcademy ofScience and the Special Interest Group Woodpeckers of the GermanOrnithologists’ Society. These three organizations have worked inpartnership to generate a pleasant atmosphere that hopefully leads tofruitful exchange of information on this fascinating avian group. TheBiałowieżaNationalParkandtheGermanOrnithologists’SocietyDO-Gareorganizationssupportingtheconference.

The Białowieża Forest is the best preserved lowland forest of the


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temperate zone in the northern hemisphere. Protected for centuries asroyal hunting grounds, it survived almost unchanged until World War I,when itsexploitationstartedandmany fragmentsof theForest lost theirnaturalcharacter.Nevertheless,onecanstilladmireprimevalstandsintheBiałowieżaNational Park and in nature reserves, aswell asmanynaturalfragmentsofold-growthstandsoutsidetheseprotectedareas.Thediversefauna of the Białowieża Forest consists of intermediate faunal elementsfromCentral,NorthernandEasternEurope,includingtheEuropeanBison.Attheturnfromwintertospring,thesemammalsoftenfeedonmeadowsnearthevillage.Białowieżaisalsoknownasparadiseforbirdwatchers.Sofar, c. 250 species of birds were recorded, including all Europeanwoodpeckers, 11 species of owls and over a dozen other birds of prey.Although in March it will not be possible to see the majority of birdmigrants, there is a good chance to observe most woodpecker species.Mid-March is a time of significant activity of the White-backedWoodpecker.

Many people have helped to organize this conference, and we thankeveryone for their support. We are also very grateful for the financialsupport provided by the German Ornithologists’ Society DO-G and fororganizational help of theBiałowieżaNational Park.Without all this helpandsupport,wewouldnothavemetinBiałowieża.Last,butnotleast,wethankAltafilmGmbHallowingustoenjoyoneoftheirwonderfulmovies.

Wewarmlywelcomeyouatthe8thInternationalWoodpeckerConference;enjoythevisitintheBiałowieżaForestanditsbeauty.

DorotaCzeszczewik&GilbertoPasinelli


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COMMITTEES

ScientificCommittee:

Chair:GilbertoPasinelli(SwissOrnithologicalInstitute,Sempach,Switzerland)DorotaCzeszczewik(SiedlceUniversity,Poland)UtkuPerktaş(HacettepeUniversity,Ankara,Turkey)HugoRobles(UniversityofAntwerp,Belgium)EricL.Walters(OldDominionUniversity,Norfolk,USA)

LocalOrganizingCommittee:

Chair:DorotaCzeszczewik(SiedlceUniversity)GrzegorzHebda(OpoleUniversity)ŁukaszKajtoch(InstituteofSystematicsandEvolutionofAnimalsPAS,Kraków)ZiemowitKosiński(AdamMickiewiczUniversity,Poznań)KatarzynaKubicka(SiedlceUniversity)TomaszMazgajski(MuseumandInstituteofZoologyPAS,Warsaw)MartaMaziarz(MuseumandInstituteofZoologyPAS,Warsaw)PatrykRowiński(WarsawUniversityofLifeSciences)TomaszStański(SiedlceUniversity)WiesławWalankiewicz(SiedlceUniversity)

Organizers:

SiedlceUniversityofNaturalSciencesandHumanities,FacultyofNaturalSciences,DepartmentofZoologySiedlce,PolandSpecialInterestGroupWoodpeckersofGermanOrnithologists’Society,DeutscheOrnithologen-Gesellschaft-DO-GMuseumandInstituteofZoology,PolishAcademyofScience,Poland

Thehonorarypatronage:

Drhab.TamaraZacharuk,prof.UPHRectoroftheSiedlceUniversity

Supportinginstitutions:

BiałowieżaNationalPark,PolandGermanOrnithologists’Society(DO-G)AltayFilm


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PROGRAM

Saturday,March1617:00–21:00 Registrationandreceptionattheconferencevenue(Hotel

Białowieskihttps://www.hotel.bialowieza.pl/en)

Sunday,March1708:15–09:00 RegistrationandreceptionattheconferencevenueHotel

Białowieski09:00–09:15 Openingceremony

Session1:Conservation.Chair:MartjanLammertink

09:15–10:05 TomaszWesołowski(plenarytalk):WoodpeckerstudiesintheBiałowieżaForest

10:05–10:30Coffeebreak

10:30–10:50 PhilippeCadieux,PierreDrapeau,AlainLeduc,MarianneCheveau,AntoineNappi:ThePileatedWoodpecker(Dryocopuspileatus):anumbrellaspeciesforcavitynestersinborealforests

10:50–11:10 CarstenKost,OlaOlsson:ModellingpastandpresenthabitatsuitabilityforthelesserspottedwoodpeckerinSweden

11:10–11:30 MarcoBasile,ThomasAsbeck,CesarePacioni,GrzegorzMikusińki:Treerelativesize,notitsabsolute,supportswoodpeckercavities’establishment

11:30–11:50 LeifLithander:WillthereberoomforWoodpeckersintheAnthropocene?

12:00–13:30LunchatHotelBiałowieski

Session2:Habitatuse.Chair:KarenWiebe

13:30–13:50 PierreDrapeau,PhilippeCadieux,LouisImbeau,AntoineNappi,AlainLeduc,RéjeanDeschênes:LinkagesbetweendecayingtreesandwoodpeckersineasternborealforestsofCanada:whenkeystoneattributesinteractwithkeystonespecies

13:50–14:10 RamanKumar,GhazalaShahabuddin,AjithKumar:Foragingnichedifferentiationamongsympatric


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woodpeckerspeciesindipterocarpforestsofnorthwestIndia

14:10–14:30 ArkadiuszFröhlich,MichałCiach:Woodpeckersinanurbanecosystem:searchingforahighqualityrefugesinamatrixofhabitats


Session3:Cavityecology.Chair:VictoriaSaab

14:50–15:40 KristinaL.Cockle,KathyMartin(plenarytalk):Woodpeckers,wooddecay,andtheresilienceofnestwebcommunities

15:40–16:00 KathyMartin,KristinaCockle:WoodpeckerLegacies:Theresourcevalueoffreshandoldertreecavitiestosupportcomplexcavitynestingcommunities

16:00–16:20 WiesławWalankiewicz,DorotaCzeszczewik,GrzegorzBednarczyk,TomaszStański,AnnaKapusta:DoesCollaredFlycatcherbenefitfromnestinginwoodpecker-madecavitiesundertheconditionsoftheprimevalforest?

16:20–16:40 JoshuaM.Diamond,MichaelS.Ross:Palmsnagsareacriticalnestingresourceforwoodpeckersinanurbanizedtropicalregion

16:40–17:00 CamillePuverel,AnickAbourachid,ChristineBohmer,BaptisteKerfiden,Jean-MichelLeban,YoanPaillet:Thisismyspot:characteristicsoftreesbearingBlackWoodpeckercavities

17:00–19:00 Postersession

19:00–20:30DinneratHotelBiałowieski

20:30 Movietime...

Monday,March1808:00–14:00 Guidedexcursiontothestrictlyprotectedareaof

BiałowieżaNationalPark


16:00–18:30 UtkuPerktaş:Workshoponenvironmentalnichemodellingandphylogeography 

19:00–20:30DinneratHotelBiałowieski


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20:30–21:30 RoundtablewithBogdanJaroszewiczetal.:threatstotheBiałowieżaForest.Chair:WiesławWalankiewicz

Tuesday,March19Session4:Evolutionaryecologyandpopulationbiology.

Chair:UtkuPerktaş

09:00–09:50 JéromeFuchs(plenarytalk):Diversificationandspeciationinwoodpeckers

09:50–10:10 ŁukaszKajtoch,TomaszFigarski,JerzyMichalczuk,ArturGurgul:PhenotypicandgenotypictraitsofhybridizationbetweenSyrianandGreatspottedwoodpeckers

10:10–10:30 SayakaMori,KaoriKuno,SaoriTsuyama,ShokuroTamura,SatoruChiba,HiroeIzumi,IsaoNishiumi:GeneticstructureanalysisfortheconservationofcriticallyendangeredinsularendemicOkinawaWoodpeckers(Dendrocoposnoguchii)


10:50–11:10 GerardoSoto:EffectsofforestdegradationonlocalpopulationsofMagellanicwoodpeckers:fromterritoryallocationtopopulationviabilityunderclimatechangescenarios

11:10–11:30 EricL.Walters,WaltKoenig:Driversofseasonaldeclineinreproductioninthecooperativelybreedingacornwoodpecker

11:30–11:50 KenW.Smith,LindaSmith:TheimpactoftheabundanceandtimingofdefoliatingcaterpillarsonthebreedingsuccessofGreatSpottedWoodpecker(Dendrocoposmajor)inoak(Quercuswoodland)insouthernUKovera16-yearperiod

11:50–12:10 GilbertoPasinelli,PeterKnaus,NicolasStrebel,ThomasSattler:Populationtrendsandchangesindistributionofwoodpeckersover20yearsinSwitzerland


Session5:Climateandweathereffects.Chair:EricWalters

13:30–14:20 VictoriaSaab,WilliamBlock,JonathanDudley(plenarytalk):Disturbancesandwoodpeckers:makingsenseof


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fires,barkbeetles,loggingandwoodpeckersofwesternNorthAmericanforests

14:20–14:40 JacopoG.Cecere,AndreaMarcon,SimonaImperio,RositaMantovani,PierfrancescoMicheloni,EzioOrfelini,DarioPiacentini,LorenzoSerra,FernandoSpina:Long-termchangesinmigrationtimingofWryneck

14:40–15:00 JeffreyWalters,StephanieDeMay:GeographicvariationineffectsofchangingclimateonproductivityofanendangeredwoodpeckerinthesoutheasternUnitedStates

15:00–15:20 ZiemowitKosiński,ŁukaszWalczak:DifferentfactorsaffectbreedingpopulationsofmiddlespottedwoodpeckerDendrocoptesmediusinstrictlyprotectedandmanagedforestsinwesternPoland


Session6.Spaceuseandmovementecology.Chair:KenSmith

15:40–16:00 NatashaD.G.Hagemeyer,SahasBarve,RussellE.Winter,SamuelD.Chamberlain,WalterD.Koenig,DavidW.Winkler,EricL.Walters:Status,sex,andgroupsizedriveextra-territorialforaysincooperativelybreedingacornwoodpeckers

16:00–16:20 KarenL.Wiebe:LocalrecruitmentandnataldispersalintheNorthernFlicker,amigratorywoodpecker

16:20–16:40 HugoRobles,CarlosCiudad,ZenoPorro,JulienFattebert,GilbertoPasinelli,MatthiasTschumi,MartaVila,MartinGrüebler:Nataldispersalofmiddlespottedwoodpeckersunderhabitatfragmentationscenarios


17:00–17:20 OlaOlsson:Movementecologyandhabitatuseoflesserspottedwoodpeckers

17:20–17:40 AntoniaEttwein,MichaelLanz,GilbertoPasinelli:Variationinhomerangesizeofthewhite-backedwoodpecker

17:40–18:00 DavidCampion,DiegoVillanúa,MiguelMariElósegi:FirstexperienceswiththeuseofGPS-tagsintheLilfordiwoodpecker(Dendrocoposleucotoslilfordi)

18:00–18:30 Closingceremony

19:15ConferencedinneratHotelBiałowieski


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Wednesday,March20Departure8:30 Post-conferenceexcursiontotheBiebrzaNationalPark

Out-of-the-programactivitiesExhibitionofwoodpeckerpicturesoftheworldbyBeatrizCárcamo-illustrator,sculptoranddraftswoman.


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PLENARYTALKS

Woodpeckers, wood decay, and the resilience of nest webcommunities

KristinaL.Cockle,KathyMartin

Nearly1900birdspecies require treecavities fornesting.Non-excavators(suchas toucans,owls) are linked to theorganisms thatproduce cavities(includingwoodpeckers, other avian excavators, and decay organisms) incomplexecological networksornestwebs. Conserving thesenetworks inthefaceofglobalchangerequiresanunderstandingoftheirstructureanddynamics. Here, we draw on decades of research in North and SouthAmericanforeststoexploretherolesofwoodpeckersinthestructureandfunctionofnestwebcommunities.Woodpeckersaretheprimarysourceofcavities throughout much of North America, but, at first glance, theyappear to play only aminor role in producing cavities in forests outsideNorthAmerica (e.g., 0-20%of cavities inmany forests of SouthAmerica,Europe,andOceania).Inglobally-endangeredold-growthAtlanticforestofArgentina, woodpecker cavities persisted 10yearsfornon-excavatedcavities),comprised7%ofnestsitesusedbynon-excavators,andsupportedonly0.3speciesofnon-excavators,onaverage,across their lifetimes (vs. 1.5 for non-excavated cavities).With increasinghuman disturbance to the forest, however, cavity supply declineddramatically and woodpecker cavities took on an increasing role,comprising57%of nest sitesusedbynon-excavators in isolated treesonfarms.InInteriorBritishColumbia,Canada,woodpeckerswereconsistentlyimportant facilitators in the nest web; however, species’ roles shifted inresponsetoabarkbeetleoutbreak,andtheNorthernFlicker,afacultativeexcavator, dramatically increased cavity production following thedestructionofcavities inwildfires.Weconcludethathealthywoodpeckerpopulationsmayplay a critical role in regulating cavity supply,while richwoodpecker assemblages can offer redundancy in cavity production.Wepropose that woodpeckers act as agents of resilience in nest webs,allowingnon-excavators to survive inotherwise cavity-poorhabitats, andincreasingtheabilityofnestwebstoresponddynamicallytodisturbance.


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Diversificationandspeciationinwoodpeckers

JéromeFuchs

WiththeadventofDNAsequencing,ourunderstandingoftheevolutionofthePicidaehasgreatlychangedduringthelasttwodecades,allowingustorefine previous hypotheses regarding their biogeography, diversificationand speciation patterns, community composition as well as plumageconvergence. We will summarize the current knowledge regarding thespatio-temporal evolution of woodpeckers as well as provide a set ofevolutionaryquestionsthatrecentlydevelopedmethodsallowustotackle.Forestdisturbancesandwoodpeckers:makingsenseof fires,barkbeetles, logging and woodpeckers of western North Americanforests

VictoriaSaab,WilliamBlock,JonathanDudleyandmanyothers

Woodpeckerscoevolved inwesternNorthAmericanforestswithwildfiresand bark beetle outbreaks. Several woodpecker species directly benefitfromtheephemeralhabitatcreatedbyfireandbarkbeetles.Althoughfireand beetle outbreaks are part of the evolutionary history in westernforests, alterations in disturbance regimes have occurred due to loggingactivities,grazingpractices,firesuppression,andclimatechange.Increasesin frequencyofwildfires andbeetleoutbreaks are expectedwith climatechange,allowingmoreopportunitiesforpost-disturbancesalvagelogging.Removal of snags through salvage logging can be beneficial to localeconomies but detrimental to disturbance-associated woodpeckers. Forthepast25years,westudiedwoodpeckerdistributionsanddemographicsin relation to large-scale disturbances in dry coniferous forests of theInterior Western U.S.A. The focal species of our work are Black-backed(Picoides arcticus), American three-toed (P. dorsalis), White-headed(Dryobatesalbolarvatus),Hairy(D.villosus)andLewis’s(Melanerpeslewis)woodpeckers. We examined changes in nesting densities, habitatsuitability,andnestingsurvivalasa resultof recentwildfires,barkbeetleoutbreaks, and land management activities, including tree harvest andprescribed fire.Whilenestdensitiesofall species increased in relation torecent fires and beetle outbreaks, salvage logging reduced densities andnest survival for some species. To inform post-disturbance forestmanagement thatminimizes negative consequences towoodpeckers,wedeveloped a GIS-tool for mapping nesting habitat suitability. The tool is


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being used to make informed decisions on locations for salvage loggingthat are compatible with the long-term persistence of disturbance-associatedwoodpeckers.WoodpeckerstudiesintheBiałowieżaForest

TomaszWesołowski

Situated on the Polish/Belarussian border, the Białowieża Forest stillcontainsfragmentsofthepristineforeststhatoncecoveredthe lowlandsof temperate Europe. Such patches are protected within the BiałowieżaNational Park (Polish part). There is no direct human intervention in theoperation of abiotic and biotic processes shaping the forest, includingpatterns of tree decay and death, seed masting, insect outbreaks orpredation threat. Studies of woodpeckers living in these conditions havetakenplaceduring the last40+years.Here I shall reviewsomeresultsofthiswork,introducingthewoodpeckers’richbreedingassemblage(allbutone European woodpecker species occur there), patterns of species’habitatdistributions,densitiesandlong-termnumericalfluctuations.Ishallthen present their breeding phenology and the holes used for nesting(location, persistence, importance for secondary users). Finally, I shalldiscuss the evolutionary insights gained from studies in these conditionsandstresstheurgentneedtopreservethelastpiecesofpristineforestsasindispensableevolutionaryandecologicallaboratories.


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ORALPRESENTATIONS

Tree relative size, not its absolute, supportswoodpecker cavities’establishment

MarcoBasile,ThomasAsbeck,CesarePacioni,GrzegorzMikusiński

The selection of retention trees to set aside from logging for themaintenanceof tree-relatedbiodiversity isanunsolved issue in retentionforestry systems. Retention trees can be chosen among candidates thatbear distinct structures as tree-related microhabitats (TreMs). TreMsprovide shelter, rest, food or breeding sites for other organisms. OnespecificgroupofTreMsiswoodpeckercavities,whichconstitutesthemainbreeding sites for primary cavity-nesters and one of the main breedingsites for secondary cavity-nesters. Therefore, understanding which treeswoodpeckers select for cavities can inform forest management, asretainingthemostsuitabletreescouldsupportagreatvarietyoforganismsthatdependoncavities.Weuseddata froma full forest inventory,TreMinventoryandwoodpeckercountstoinvestigatethecharacteristicsoftreeschosen by woodpeckers by building a resource selection probabilityfunction. Several predictors were tested for their influence on theprobability of tree selection by woodpeckers including altitude, treespecies, TreM richness and abundance, diameter at breast height (DBH)and deviation from the mean DBH per plot. The results show that thecavitysizedoesnotcorrelatewiththeindividualtreediameter,andneitherdoestheprobabilityofchoicebywoodpeckers.Instead,theprobabilityofchoicebywoodpeckersseemstobedrivenonlybythedeviationfromthemeanDBHperplot.Wewereable to identifya relative threshold for theselection of trees indicating that woodpeckers significantly prefer treesthatare20cmlargerthanthemeanDBHperplot.Thoughmoredataarestill needed on this preliminary project about woodpecker’s tree choice,these results deliver a clear improvement of the understanding for theselectionof retentiontrees.Our findingsmightguide forestmanagementdecisionsfortheconservationofforestbiodiversity.


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The Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus): an umbrellaspeciesforcavitynestersinborealforests

Philippe Cadieux, Pierre Drapeau, Alain Leduc, Marianne Cheveau,AntoineNappi

SeveralresearchersandwildlifemanagersqualifythePileatedWoodpecker(Dryocopus pileatus) as an umbrella species or indicator species. Theconservation of its habitatwould also benefitmultiple other co-occuringspecies. However, there are few empirical studies on the subject. WeevaluatedifthepresenceofaPileatedWoodpeckercavitytreecanbeusedasan indicatorofhabitatquality for thereproductionofcavitynesters inboreal forests.We used data from a long-term study (2003-2014) whichcoversavastterritory(12000km2)andoverlapstwobioclimaticdomains:the balsam firwhite birch and the black sprucemoss in eastern Canada.Data on the reproduction of cavity nesters were collected in 106 plots.Contrary to other indicator species studies that generally use occurrencedata, we used nesting trees, which more directly reflects the limitingresourceforthis functionalgroupofspecies.Wecomparedtheefficiencyof using the Pileated Woodpecker over other cavity excavators forpredicting cavity nesters species richness. Our results show that thePileatedWoodpeckerstronglyselectsstandswiththatarealsoselectedbythemajorityofcavitynesters:oldgrowthforestswithtremblingaspen.ThePileated Woodpecker is also the species for which the presence of itscavitiesatasitewasthemostsusceptibletopredictthepresenceofotherspecies’ nesting cavities. Moreover, its habitat selection model was themost efficient for prioritizing sites for the conservation of this group ofspecies. The Pileated Woodpecker can thus be considered an efficientumbrella species for the quality of breeding habitat for cavity nestersassociated with boreal mixedwoods, a key component of biodiversity inborealforestecosystems.

First experiences with the use of GPS-tags in the Lilfordiwoodpecker(Dendrocoposleucotoslilfordi)

DavidCampion,DiegoVillanúa,MiguelMariElósegi

The White-backed woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos) – WBW - isconsidered the rarest woodpecker in Europe. Moreover, itsirregulardistribution, together with the strongisolation of the populations,makesthe speciesespecially vulnerable. The population present in the


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IberianPeninsulawouldbeoneof these speciallyendangeredones,withonly 78-95 pairs which are located in the global south-west limitdistributionarea.Sofar,theWBWhabitatrequirementshavebeenpoorlystudiedwithradio-trackingworks,duetothesmallsizeofthisbirdandthesteepness of its habitat. Recently, new small GPS-tags which canaccumulate a largenumber of locations have been developed. Also, thelocation data can be remotely downloaded with no need of animalrecapture.Usingthismaterial,westartedaWBWstudy inNavarra insidethe HABIOS project, aimed to obtain information about their habitatselectioninordertoadjustthebeechforestmanagement.Duringthespringof2017and2018fifteenbirdswerecapturedandtagged(12adultsand3juveniles)whichallowedustoobtainmorethan500exactlocationsand tocharacterize7 territories.All taggedadults finished theirreproductionperiodwithoutanyproblemorchanges intheirbehavior. Inaddition,onemalethathadbeenmarkedin2017andrecapturedin2018didnotshowanylesionsassociatedwiththeGPS-tag.Meanhomerangesizewas245ha,muchbiggerthanestimatedbydirectobservationsorregisteredinscientificliterature.WBWnestsweresituatedin mature beech forests areas; however our tracking showed that otherhabitats like young forests, pollarding trees, forest borders or evengrasslands, habitats not traditionally associated with the WBW, wereincluded in their home range. These first results suggest that the use ofthese small GPS-tags can be a good option to study the habitatrequirementsintheWhite-backedwoodpecker.

Long-termchangesinmigrationtimingofWryneck

Jacopo G. Cecere, Andrea Marcon, Simona Imperio, Rosita Mantovani,Pierfrancesco Micheloni, Ezio Orfelini, Dario Piacentini, Lorenzo Serra,FernandoSpina

Climatewarmingaffectstimingofbothpre-andpost-nuptialmigration inseveralspeciesbreeding inEurope.We investigated long-termchanges inmigration timing of Wryneck analyzing information stored at the ItalianRinging Centre (EPE dbase). For the springmigration we relied on 1,729birdscapturedduring30springseasonsoftheProgettoPiccoleIsole(1988-2017) at 11 ringing stations mainly located on small Tyrrhenian islandswhichareusedasstopoversitesbymanyspeciesofsmallmigrants.Fortheautumn migration we relied on 1,447 birds captured during 36 autumnseasons (1982-2017) at 62 ringing stations located along the Italian


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Peninsula. Given the location of the ringing stations, spring samplingmainlyregardedlong-distancemigrants,whileautumnsamplingcouldalsoinvolve short-distance migrants. The timing of spring migration showedlong-term advance (c.a. 1 day/6 years) but, at the same time, it wasaffectedbymeteorologicalconditionsatAfricannon-breedinggrounds:thehigher the rainfall amount was in the Sahel during the non-breedingperiod,theearlierwasthespringarrivaldateinItaly.Thetimingofautumnmigration showed a rapid long-term delay (c.a. 1 day/4.7 years), withadults generally migrating earlier than first year individuals and with noeffectsof theNorthAtlanticOscillation,whichstrongly influencesclimatevariablesinEurope.Higherrainfallconditionsatthenon-breedinggroundsfavour vegetation growth and likely prey abundance, which in turn mayfavour Wrynecks in storing their fat reserves, allowing birds to advancetheirspringmigration.Long-termdelayinautumnmigrationdatemightbeexplainedbythe lengtheningof thewarmseasonandthecapacityof thespecies to produce a variable number of broods. Overall, the long-termchanges inbothspringandautumnmigration timingmaysuggestagoodadaptationofWrynecktoclimatechange.

Palm snags are a critical nesting resource for woodpeckers in anurbanizedtropicalregion

JoshuaM.Diamond,MichaelS.Ross

Criticalresourcesforbirdsnestingincitiescansupportpopulationsinspiteof the challenges imposedbyurbanization, and the identificationof suchresources can shed light on how species are able to adapt to novelenvironments. In the case ofwoodpeckers, these resources also supportthe conservation of secondary cavity-nesters. Woodpecker nesting hasbeenwell-studied intemperateregions, includingwithinurbanareas,butinsubtropicalandtropicalregions, less isknown.Hereweaskwhattypesof trees and what habitats are used most by woodpeckers, and whichspecies of woodpeckers create the most nest cavities. We recordedinformation from 967 woodpecker nest trees in the region surroundingMiami, Florida, USA, which contained a total of 1,864 nest cavitiesexcavatedbyfourwoodpeckerspecies.Palmtreeswereusedmorethanallother tree categories, and royal palms (Roystonea regia)were themost-used species overall. Palm snags were preferentially excavated in everyhabitat where they were available and three of the four woodpeckerspecies used palms snags over all other categories of trees. Palm snag


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nests were themost used by native and exotic secondary cavity-nestingbirds. Red-bellied Woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus) were the mostprolificcavityexcavators,creating78.1%ofholes.Remnantpatchesoftwonative forest types contained the highest densities of woodpecker nesttrees.We found a higher density of nest trees inmoderately-developedsuburban areas than either rural, agricultural areas or in the highly-developed urban core. We consider how these results can informconservationeffortsinthedevelopingtropics,andespeciallywithinsimilarurbanizingenvironmentsinthenearbyCaribbean.

Linkages between decaying trees and woodpeckers in easternboreal forests of Canada:when keystone attributes interactwithkeystonespecies

Pierre Drapeau, Philippe Cadieux, Louis Imbeau, Antoine Nappi, AlainLeduc,RéjeanDeschênes

In the eastern Canadian boreal forest, the northern expansion of timberharvestinginthelast35yearshasshiftedtheage-classdistributionfromamatrixformerlydominatedbyoldforestcovertypestoamatrixthatisnowdominatedbyyoungforests.Thisrepresentsamajorchangefororganismsthatevolvedandexperiencedhighavailabilityofkeystonestructuressuchas decaying and dead trees. These resources may thus become limited,which may affect woodpeckers species foraging and nesting conditions.Thisinturncouldlikelyhavecascadingeffectsoncavity-usingvertebratessincewoodpeckersarekeystoneagentsintheprovisionoftreeholesintheCanadianborealforest.Wequantifiedandcomparednestingandforagingtree selection of six bark-foraging woodpeckers – downy woodpecker(Picoidespubescens),hairywoodpecker(Picoidesvillosus),Americanthree-toed woodpecker (Picoides dorsalis), black-backed woodpecker (Picoidesarcticus), yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyropicus varius) and pileatedwoodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) – that co-occur in different study sitesthat encompass Québec’s boreal forest both in old and recently burnedforests over the last 15 years. Our results show that decaying and deadtrees represents an important foraging substrate for most bark foragingwoodpeckerswhereasmost species relyondecayed trees (trees infectedby wood-decaying polypores) or dead trees for nesting. We argue thatprovidingforagingandnestingsubstratesformostwoodpeckerspeciesnotonly requiresmaintainingdead treesbutalso theunderlyingdynamicsoftreedecayinborealforestlandscapes.


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Variationinhomerangesizeofthewhite-backedwoodpecker

AntoniaEttwein,MichaelLanz,GilbertoPasinelli

Knowingaspecies’arearequirementsandthemechanismsaffectingthemisofgreatimportancefordevelopingeffectiveconservationmeasures.Theendangered white-backed woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos typicallyoccursinforestswithlittleornoforestmanagement.Althoughthisspeciesis of high conservation concern and has already been used as a targetspecies in conservation projects, knowledge gaps exist regarding itsecology, particularly in Central European forests, as well as its arearequirementsandspaceusepatterns.Westudiedvariationinhomerangesize of white-backed woodpeckers occurring in managed forests inWesternAustria,EasternSwitzerlandandLiechtenstein in relation tosex,seasonandhabitat.Wealsotestedwhetherreproductivesuccess(numberof fledglings)wasrelatedtohomerangesizeduringthebreedingseason.Fiftyindividualswerefittedwithradiotransmittersin2017and2018,anddata collected throughout each year. The nestlings of each taggedwoodpecker were counted shortly before fledging. We used 95% fixedkerneldensityestimation toestimatehomerangesizes.Homerangesizesignificantly differed between the seasons and was 60±19 ha (n = 19)during the pre-breeding season, 40±14 ha (n = 26) during the breedingseasonand95±36ha (n=31) in summer.Two individuals trackedduringwinterhadhomerangesizesof94and178ha, respectively.Homerangesize did not differ between the sexes, and reproductive successwas notrelated to home range size. The relationships between home range size,habitatstructureandforestmanagementintensityandtheimplicationsforforestmanagementwillbediscussed.

Woodpeckers inanurbanecosystem: searching forahighqualityrefugesinamatrixofhabitats

ArkadiuszFröhlich,MichałCiach

Woodpeckers are relatively often recorded in an urban environment.However, their habitat preferences and habitat quality of territorieslocated in an urban matrix are not studied in details. Urbanizationpotentiallycontributetothelimitationofdeadwoodresources,whicharecrucial for woodpeckers occurrence. However, an urban matrix maycontainhabitatpatchesthataresuitableforthisgroupofbirds.Theaimof


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this studywas to assesshabitatpreferencesofwoodpeckers in anurbanmatrix and select factors that influence habitat quality of an urbanenvironments.In2015-2018,thesurveyofwoodpeckerswasconductedinthecityofKrakówonrandomlyselectedsampleplots.Habitatparameters,including quality and quantity of dead wood resources, were used tomodelspeciesoccurrenceandrichness.Intotal,eightwoodpeckerspecieswere recorded. Two distinct groups of species were revealed – firstcontained species that preferred urban forests, while second group wasmorerelatedwithprivategardens.Deadwoodresources,whichoccurredmainly in the form of tree dead branches, were major driver of acommunity richness. Municipal greenery has most limited dead woodresources,thusthishabitattypewasavoidedbywoodpeckers.Moreover,we found that requirements of dead wood availability and canopycoverage correlatedwith species abundance.Deadwood resources in anurbanenvironmentwereshapedbyownershipandtypeofmanagementofan urban green spaces and estate prices. Our study demonstrates thatmanagementofurbangreenery is an important factor thathaseffectonthewoodpeckersassemblageand lessmanicuredurbangreenspacesarecrucialforthewoodpeckersoccurrence.Ourfindingsareimportantinthecontextofprogressiveurbanizationofthelandscapemosaic.

Status, sex, and group size drive extra-territorial forays incooperativelybreedingacornwoodpeckers

Natasha D.G. Hagemeyer, Sahas Barve, Russell E. Winter, Samuel D.Chamberlain,WalterD.Koenig,DavidW.Winkler,EricL.Walters

Environmentalconstraintsrestrictdispersalincooperativelybreedingtaxa,andextra-territorialforaystofindbreedingopportunitiesareacriticalyetunderstudied behavior in cooperative breeders. The study of extra-territorial forays inbirdshasbeen constrainedby the crypticbehaviorofbirds on foray, the resource-intensive methods of radio-telemetryrequiring manual tracking of individuals, need for recapture to retrievetags,andtheshort trackingperiods feasibleduetoweightconstraintsonthe radio-tags. We examined extra-territorial forays in cooperativelybreeding acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) by tracking 62birds using lightweight solar-powered radio-tags and an automated arrayof receiver stations throughout an entire breeding season. This noveltechnology allowed us to track radio-tagged birds simultaneously andcontinuously throughout the study. Number of territories visited, mean


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andmaximum distance to each territory visited, and proportion of timespentonthehometerritoryweredeterminedforeachbird foreachday.We predicted that helpers would foray farther and more often thanbreeders,andthatfemaleswouldforayfartherthanmales.Thenumberoflong-distance forays by birds were at a scale and frequency previouslyunknownamongcooperativelybreedingbirds.Wefoundnodifference inthe number of territories visitedwith regard to sex and breeding status.Unexpectedly, themeanandmaximumdistance to territoriesvisitedwassignificantly smaller for helpermales than other sex-status classes. Also,birds from larger social groups spent less time on their territories. Ourresults demonstrate that extra-territorial forays are frequent and routineregardlessofsexorsocialstatus. Individualforaystrategies,however,arelikely driven by a combination of sex, status and group size at the hometerritory.

Phenotypic and genotypic traits of hybridization betweenSyrianandGreatspottedwoodpeckersŁukaszKajtoch,TomaszFigarski,JerzyMichalczuk,ArturGurgul

Syrian and Great spotted woodpeckers (Dendrocopos syriacus and D.major; SW and GW, respectively) are known to hybridize in nature. Theextentofthisphenomenonwaspoorlyknownduetodifficulties inhybriddetection. The population structures, phenotypes, and genotypes ofsympatric SW and GW were investigated in Poland. Field studies wereundertakenin2013-2015,whereassamplesforgeneticswerecollectedin2009-2017. Based on field studies it was estimated that only 2.1% ofterritorieswereformedbybirdsbelongingtodifferentspecies(5.3%ifalsoconsideringpairscomprisingat leastonehybrid).Theseinterspecificpairsin92.8%comprisedSWorhybridfemalesandGWmales. Intotal3.6%ofobservedindividualsand6.9%ofdeadbirdswereidentifiedashybrids.Thesex ratio of hybrids was equal. 8 phenotypic characters were found toallow incombination for the identificationofhybrids.Next,withuseof5markers (1 mitochondrial and 4 nuclear introns) and a set of 6microsatellite loci,genotypesof12SW,12GW,and2phenotypichybridswasdetermined.Thehighestnumberoffixednucleotidesiteswasfoundinthe mtDNA and intron 5 of the transforming growth factor. Analyses ofmicrosatellite data distinguished the two species, but all loci showed alargenumberofcommonalleles.AccordingtotheDNAsequenceanalyses,2outof18specimenswithinthesympatricrangeinPolandwereidentified


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as hybrids, but microsatellites suggested more individuals withintrogressed DNA. This was further supported by genotyping-by-sequencingofnearly2.500singlenucleotidepolymorphisms.Theseresultssuggest that in urban populations of these woodpeckers, part ofphenotypicSWsharborgenotypesassignedastheseknownforGWs.Thesedata suggest that hybridization between SWs and GWs is anunderestimated phenomenon with important consequences for anyecological studies on sympatric populations of both species and for theconservationoftherareSW.

Different factors affect breeding populations of middle spottedwoodpecker Dendrocoptes medius in strictly protected andmanagedforestsinwesternPoland

ZiemowitKosiński,ŁukaszWalczak

Weinvestigatedtheimpactofweatherconditionsandforestmanagementintensity on breeding populations of the middle spotted woodpeckerbetween2000and2018.Sinceclimaticextremescanhavemajoreffectsonbirdsduetolowsurvivalrateweassumedthatweatherconditionsduringwintercouldaffectspringpopulationfromoneyeartoanother.Moreover,unfavourableweatherconditionsduringreproductioninthepreviousyearmight negatively affect breeding performance and shape breedingpopulationinthefollowingbreedingseason.Wealsoassumedthatforestmanagement intensity might negatively affect breeding population. Weestablishedastudysites instrictlyprotectedriverine forest -“CzeszewskiLas Reserve” (CLR; 223 ha), and in intensively managed oak forest“Łówkowiec” (L; 611 ha) in western Poland. Both sites are parts of twoNATURA2000SPAs(MiddleWartaRiverValleyandKrotoszynOakForest),with the middle spotted woodpecker as one of the target species. Thetemporaltrendsintheabundanceinbothsiteswerenotsignificant.Inthecase of CLR, the number of pairs increased with increasing meantemperatureorwindchill inwinter,anddecreasedwithincreaseofmeantemperature in May. In the case of L, number of pairs decreased withincreasingnumberofdayswithsnow.However,whenthe indexof forestmanagementintensitywasincludedintotheanalysis,wehavefoundthatthenumberofpairs increasedwith increasingmeantemperatureorwindchillinwinteranddecreasedwithincreasingforestmanagementintensity.Ourdatasuggeststhatwinterseveritymighthaveadirecteffectonwintersurvival of middle spotted woodpeckers. The negative effects of


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temperatureinpreviousMayonnumberofpairsinCLRmightbeaffectedby disruption of the synchrony of oak phenology and herbivorouscaterpillar activity, and mistiming of middle spotted woodpeckerreproductionduetoclimatechange.Theeffectofclimateconditionsmaybealteredbyintensityofforestmanagement.

ModellingpastandpresenthabitatsuitabilityforthelesserspottedwoodpeckerinSweden

CarstenKost,OlaOlsson

Habitatsuitabilitymodelsprovideimportanttoolsinconservationplanningandresearch.Duringalarge-scaleprojectduring1985-1988,occurrenceoflesser spotted woodpeckers (Dryobates minor) was surveyed in ca 170areasacrossSweden.Presenceorabsenceof thewoodpecker,aswellasthe forest composition was recorded. Additionally, the species and itshabitat were studied in great detail in a smaller area of Sweden in the1990-ies. We combined this information on forest composition andwoodpeckerpresencefrombothstudieswithsatellitedatafromthesameperiod,which has recently been released in a usable format, to derive ahabitat suitability model for the species. We then applied the samemethodologytorecentsatellitedatatoobtainahabitatsuitabilitymapforthe current state of the Swedish forest. We compare the model resultswith the population trends for lesser spotted woodpeckers according totheSwedishBreedingBirdSurveyandtestitagainstalargecitizensciencedataset. This model is also used to identify appropriate field-sites withdifferent degrees of habitat suitability for a new national study that willbeginin2019tofollowuptheprojectfromthe1980-ies.Theresultsfromthe new survey will be used to further test the validity of the habitatsuitabilitymodel.Additionally,comparisonofthehabitatsuitabilitymodelsfor thedifferentdecadescanprovide important insights intothechangesin availability of suitable habitat on a nation-wide scale. The results canfurtherbeusedtoestimatefuturepopulationdevelopmentsinrelationtoland-usechangesandthereforefacilitatetheplanningandimplementationofappropriateconservationmeasures.Thisprojectshowsthepotentialfortheapplicationofnewtechniquestobotholdandnewdataandthedirectapplicationoftheresultinginsights.


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Foraging niche differentiation among sympatric woodpeckerspeciesindipterocarpforestsofnorthwestIndia

RamanKumar,GhazalaShahabuddin,AjithKumar

Tropical/subtropical regions harbour a high picid diversity e.g. the sub-Himalayan dipterocarp forests in northwest India support 17 species ofwoodpecker.However, foragingecologyofwoodpeckers in these regionshasnotbeenstudiedingreatdetail.Fromaconservationperspectiveit isnecessary to assess theecological requirementsofwoodpeckers in thesebiologically diverse landscapes, which are experiencing habitatmodificationanddeclineinsomewoodpeckers.We studied the foraging niche differentiation among ten sympatricwoodpeckers in the sub-Himalayan forests of northwest India. Weexamined the foraging site preferences of individualwoodpecker speciesandexploredtheroleofinter-specificdifferencesinforagingbehaviourasapossiblemechanismfortheircoexistence.Observationson foragingwoodpeckerswere taken vis-a-vis the followingniche dimensions: DBH of the foraging tree, height of the foraging bird,part of tree on which it was observed foraging, vertical position withrespect to canopy, condition of the forage tree and condition of thesubstrate.Distinct preferences were evident among species in their foraging treediameters, foraging heights, vertical positions, and choice of substratetype, while preference for dead substrates was not an importantdistinguishing factor. Species that overlapped in onedimension generallysegregated along other dimensions. Niche segregation in forage treediameterwasassociatedwithbodyweight.Our study demonstrates that differentiation in foraging is an importantmechanism for coexistence of sympatric woodpeckers in the sub-Himalayan region. Given that larger species prefer larger substrates,removalofmaturetreescouldaffecttheirabundance,andhomogenisationofstandstructurecouldleadtoimpoverishmentofwoodpeckerdiversity.

WillthereberoomforWoodpeckersintheAnthropocene?

LeifLithander

The similarities between cancerous cells and civilization are apparent.Human population and economy grow at the expense of healthyecosystems. Woodpeckers are among the the first bird species to lose


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foothold in this devastating process. In Sweden, the Middle SpottedWoodpecker vanished and the White-backed Woodpecker is criticallyendangeredasa consequenceof large scale transformationofdeciduousforests into coniferous plantations.On the other hand, the SwedishParliament has signed and ratified the Convention on Biodiversity andopinionpollshaveshownthat70%of theswedishcitizensconsider"thespecies right toexist" tobe themain reason topreventextinctionof theWhite-backed Woodpecker.This incongruity raises several importantresearchquestionsregardingsociopoliticalissues.Here,someresultsfroma series of questionnaries conducted in Sweden 2013 - 2017 arepresented.Themostimportantone,andperhapsthemostworrying,isthatdespite a rapidly growing concern för climate change and loss ofbiodiversity, the swedish general public lacks the insight that humanpopulationgrowthistherootcauseofacceleratingdetrimentalimpactsonthe ecosystems, also in their own country. In particular, members ofpolitical parties consider growing numbers of citizens to be highlydesirable.Moreover,althoughmostrespondentswereabletorecognizeawoodpecker, very few could identify a White-backed Woodpecker. Theawareness of the ongoing conservation efforts to restore thespecies´dwindling population in Sweden are poorly spread among thegeneral public. An efficient conservation policy in a modern, democraticsociety requires understanding of how nature, social structure, theindividualcitizenandscientificknowledgeinteractandevolveovertime.Inother words, the issue here is to develop a theory on how the distancebetweenscience,politicsandeverydaypraxismaybeshortened.

Woodpecker Legacies: The resource value of fresh andolder treecavitiestosupportcomplexcavitynestingcommunities

KathyMartin,KristinaCockle

Treecavitiesareacriticalreusablenestingresourceforcavity-nestingbirdsandmammals globally, however, tree cavities may decline in occupancyand quality as they age. Although we know that trees and their cavitieschange as they age, with trees becoming softer and cavities becominglarger,we do not knowhow their value as nesting resources varieswithage.Inthecontextofwildlifeandforestmanagement,weinvestigatedtherelative value of generating a supply of fresh tree cavities—which arethought tobeofhighquality—versusprotecting cavities as theyageandexpand in interior volume. For 21 years (1995–2016), wemonitored the


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formationandoccupancyoftreecavitiesusedbymorethan30speciesofbirds and mammals in British Columbia, Canada. Cavity occupancy bysecondaryuserswashighest1yearpost-excavation(53%),declinedto40%after 2 years, remained at 33 % between 3 and 16 years of age, andincreasedto50%usefrom17–20yearspost-excavation.Woodpeckersthatreusedcavitiesstronglyselected1and2yroldcavities;large-bodiednon-excavators (ducks, raptors, squirrels) selected mid-aged cavities; andmountain bluebirds (Sialia currucoides) and tree swallows (Tachycinetabicolor) selectedmost strongly for the oldest cavities. Cavities created inlivingaspentrees,especiallythoseexcavatedbynorthernflickers(Colaptesauratus),maintainedhighoccupancybysecondaryusersacrosscavityage.Altogether, our results show that a diverse woodpecker community isneeded to generate a supply of fresh cavities in the ecosystem, and theretention of themid-aged and older cavities helps support larger-bodiedspecies.Understandingthevalueofoldcavitieswhichareavailableacrossmany years, versus fresh cavities, which may provide high quality,preferrednestsiteshelps to informbetter forestmanagement forcavity-nestingvertebratecommunities.

Genetic structure analysis for the conservation of criticallyendangered insularendemicOkinawaWoodpeckers (Dendrocoposnoguchii)

SayakaMori,KaoriKuno,SaoriTsuyama,ShokuroTamura,SatoruChiba,HiroeIzumi,IsaoNishiumi

TheOkinawaWoodpeckerisdistributedintheYambaruforestsofnorthernOkinawa Island, Japan (ca. 300km2). The population has decreasedprimarilyduetodeforestationeventsinthe1960-80s,anditsnumbersareestimated at 150-584 individuals. Recent increases in predators, such asthe invasivemongoose(Herpestesauropunctatus),alsoposeathreat.Forconservation and management of these woodpeckers, their geneticstructure should be considered. While microsatellite markers are apowerfultoolforthispurpose,fewknownmarkerswereavailableforthisspecies.WethereforedevelopednewmarkersusingNGStechniques.Theresultingsequence included2,250microsatellite loci,and146primersetsweredesigned.Wescreened55potentialprimersetswithsevenmultiplexPCR systems.A pre-analysis of allele frequency revealed that 33markerswouldbeusefulforthegeneticstructureanalysisofthespecies.Ofthose,17markerswereusedinthegeneticstructureanalysisof322woodpeckers


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sampled from entire Yambaru region during 1999-2013. Isolation-by-distance was not detected, and kinship scores were always nearly zero.Although6-10geneticclustersamongindividualsweresuggestedbyDAPC,its spatial distribution was ambiguous for now. Ancestry estimationrevealed a single genetic origin of all individuals. However, two geneticclustersbetweennorthandsouthoftherangeweredetectedbylandscapegeneticanalysis.Thisgeneticdifferentiationmaysuggesta foundereffectin thesouthernpopulation,sincethisspecieshashistoricallydisappearedonce in the south. We speculate that intensive removal efforts ofmongooses could have enhanced the re-establishment of the OkinawaWoodpeckerinsouthernYambaru.

Movementecologyandhabitatuseoflesserspottedwoodpeckers

OlaOlsson

The lesser spottedwoodpecker (Dryobatesminor) is a small specieswiththecapacitytouseanunusuallylargeterritory.Ourpreviousstudieshaveshownthatapairmaydefendareas ranging from50 toover150ha,butwithin these there is always an area of high quality deciduous forest ofbetween30and45ha. It isonly thesedeciduous forestpatches thatareusedforforaging inspring.Theforaginghabitat isthusfragmentedbyupto75%,interritorieswherebreedingmaystillbesuccessful.Duringwinterthey use home-ranges with an average size of over 700 ha. Here, I willpresentpreviouslyunpublishedmovement,foraging,andhabitatselectiondataoflesserspottedwoodpeckers,whichexplainandillustratetheabovepatterns. During winter, habitat selection is very weak and habitats areusedmoreor less inrelationtoavailability,whereasduringtheterritorialperiod in springhabitat selection is very strongwith clear preference fordeciduousforeststandsandstandswithmuchdeadbranchesofpreferredtree species. Additionally, in winter the movement pattern ranges fromdirectional to diffusion,which leads to very large areas covered, and thelikelihood of revisiting a patch being very low. By contrast, during springthe movement pattern is area focused, interrupted by short bouts ofdirectionalmovements.Thisisrelatedtoconcentrateduseofhigh-qualitypatches, which can be separated by relative large distances of matrixhabitat.


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Populationtrendsandchangesindistributionofwoodpeckersover20yearsinSwitzerland

GilbertoPasinelli,PeterKnaus,NicolasStrebel,ThomasSattler

Identifyingpotentialcausesofspatialandtemporalvariationinthesizeofanimalpopulationsisacornerstoneofecologyandcontinuestobeamajorchallenge despite the long history of population biology. The increasingavailabilityofdatasystematicallycollectedoverbroadspatialscalesallowsaddressing potential reasons underlying variation in population size inspace and time. Here, we make use of two such systematic monitoringschemes to examine i) population trends of eight woodpecker speciesbased on data from the common breeding bird survey conducted since1999acrossSwitzerlandandii)changesinwoodpeckerdistributionover20yearsbasedondatafromthenewatlasoftheSwissbreedingbirds(1993-1996 vs 2013-2016). One species, the grey-faced woodpecker (Picuscanus), showed significant population declines and associated rangecontractions.Threespecies-three-toedwoodpecker(Picoidestridactylus),middle spotted woodpecker (Dendrocoptes medius) and lesser spottedwoodpecker(Dryobatesminor)-haveincreasedsincetheearly2000afterpreviousdeclinesandhaveexpandedtheirdistribution.Theremainingfourspecies - greenwoodpecker (Picus viridis), blackwoodpecker (Dryocopusmartius), great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) and white-backed woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos) - have steadily increased inpopulation size and in distribution since the 1990s. Reasons possiblyexplainingthedifferentpopulationtrajectoriessuchasclimaticfactors,theageing of forests and increases in dead wood volumes at the differentspatialscalesarepresented.Inaddition,populationtrendsanddistributionchangesobserved inSwisswoodpeckersarecomparedto thesituation inEurope.

This ismyspot:characteristicsoftreesbearingBlackWoodpeckercavities

CamillePuverel,AnickAbourachid,ChristineBohmer,BaptisteKerfiden,Jean-MichelLeban,YoanPaillet

TheBlackWoodpecker is consideredbothanecosystemengineerandanumbrella species: it has the capacity to modify its environment throughcavityexcavationwhichinturnfavorsalargerangeofspeciesthatdependoncavitiesbutareunabletodigthem(secondarycavitynesters).However,


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the factors that affect cavityexcavationbyBlackwoodpeckerat the treescale remain poorly known.We analyzed characteristics of trees bearingBlack Woodpecker cavities to assess its local habitat preferences. Wecompared tree-traits between trees bearing Black Woodpecker cavity(n=60) and trees devoid of it (n=56) in two French lowland forests. Wehypothesizedthat:i.Cavity-treeswouldhavealowerwooddensityanddisplaymoreconksoffungithancontrol-trees;

ii.Thelocalenvironmentofcavity-treeswouldbelesscrowdedthanthoseof control trees. Inparticular, the first branchwouldbehigheron, andtheirfirsttreeneighbortreefurtherawayfrom,cavity-treesthancontrol-trees;

iii. Cavity-trees would display more other woodpecker cavities andsaproxylicmicrohabitatthancontrol-trees.

We validated most of our hypotheses and showed that cavity-treesdifferedsignificantlyfromtheircontrolcounterpartsaccordingtoanalyzedfactors.BlackWoodpeckersexcavatesoftertreeswithahigherfirstbranchinalesscrowdedenvironment,andthus,atthesametime,minimizeboththeenergydedicatedtocavityexcavationandthepredationrisk.Second,cavity-trees bear more microhabitats, supporting a more importantengineer role than previously proposed. In terms of biodiversity-friendlymanagement measures, it would be beneficial to favor large standingbeech trees with a trunk free of low branches and locally apart fromothers,especiallyinstandsdominatedbyothertreespecies.

Natal dispersal of middle spotted woodpeckers under habitatfragmentationscenarios

Hugo Robles, Carlos Ciudad, Zeno Porro, Julien Fattebert, GilbertoPasinelli,MatthiasTschumi,MartaVila,MartinGrüebler

Natal dispersal critically influences population dynamics, particularly inspatially structured systems resulting from habitat fragmentation.Ecological theorysuggests thathabitat fragmentation (habitat subdivisionand isolation) may either increase or reduce the cost-benefit ratio ofdispersaldependingontheextinctionriskassociatedwithremainingwithinthe small patches and the mortality risk during migration, but empiricaldataofdetaileddispersalmovementsinfragmentedlandscapesarescarce.We investigateddispersalmovementsofmiddle spottedwoodpeckersbyradio-trackingjuvenilesunderhabitatfragmentationscenarios.Youngbirds


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reared in small habitat patches and in high quality territories (high largeoak densities) stayed longer in the natal range and initiated dispersal(through temporary forays or permanent emigration) at older ages,suggestingthat,whilehabitatfragmentationmayinhibitdispersal,habitatdegradationmaypromotedispersalasabehaviouralmechanismtoscapeadverseconditions.Inaddition,juvenilesborninhighdensityareasstayedshorter in their natal range and initiated dispersal at earlier ages, whichmay indicate a strong effect of competition on dispersal timing. Larger(chordlength)fledglingsstayedshorterinthenatalrange,werelesslikelytoperformforaysandinitiateddispersalatearlieragesthansmallerbirds.Moreover,heavierjuvenilesstayedshorterinthefirsttransferstageafteremigration. These results support the hypothesis that, under habitatfragmentation scenarios, individuals with large body sizes may benefitfromdispersingearlier(increasedaccesstovacantterritories)andstayingshorter (reduced exposure to predation/starvation) in the criticalpostfledgingandtransferperiods.

Theimpactoftheabundanceandtimingofdefoliatingcaterpillarson the breeding success of Great Spotted Woodpecker(Dendrocopos major) in oak (Quercus woodland) in southern UKovera16-yearperiod

KenW.Smith,LindaSmith

In thispaperweanalyse theoutcomesofover800breedingattemptsbyGreat Spotted Woodpeckers (Dendrocopos major) in relation to theabundanceandtimingofdefoliatingcaterpillars,akeypreyinthebreedingseason. The studywas conductedover a 16-year period from2001-16 infourstudywoodsinsouthernEngland.Wedevelopedvideonestinspectioncameras to monitor nest contents and outcomes. Caterpillar abundanceand timing were monitored by means of frass trays and standardassessmentsofleafdamagetooak(Quercus)treesthroughthewoods.Inthelastdecade,largelydrivenbyconcernsaboutclimatechange,therehasbeenmuchattentiongiventotheimpactsonbreedingsuccess,survivaland recruitment of the ‘phenological mismatch’ between breeding birdsandtheirdefoliatingcaterpillarprey.Suchimpactsareparticularlymarkedforlong-distancemigrantsbutarealsoofconcernforresidentspecies.Those studies have tended to focus on the impacts of the timing of thecaterpillarswhereasbothabundanceandtimingarelikelytobeimportantindeterminingpreyavailabilityatkeytimesduringthebreedingcycle.The


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timing of the caterpillar peak is closely related to spring temperaturewhereas the abundance of the caterpillars is influenced bymany factorsandissubjecttolong-termcyclicfluctuationsoverperiodsoftenormoreyears. We use our 16-year long-term dataset to examine the relativeimportanceofcaterpillartimingandabundanceforthebreedingsuccessofthisresidentwoodpecker.

Effects of forest degradation on local populations of Magellanicwoodpeckers: from territory allocation to population viabilityunderclimatechangescenarios

GerardoSoto

Major landscapechangesdrivenbyhumanactivitiesandnaturaldisastersaresubjecttofurtherseverityasfutureclimatescenariospredictstrongerdroughts,lowerprecipitationandincreasedwildfireriskinforestedareas.Forests specialists are themost threatened species and their loss impliesthe reductionofmultipleecosystem functionsand services.Our researchaims to inform conservation efforts by exploring how landscape featuresaffectthepopulationviabilityoftheMagellanicwoodpeckerCampephilusmagellanicus.TheMagellanicWoodpeckerisahighlyspecializedcharismaticspeciesandiswell knownby local people from various social contexts. Its large size,contrasting colors, sexual dimorphism, association with mature and old-growthforests,andrecognitionasahard-workingspeciesforitsintensivepeckingactivities,makespeopleespeciallyattachedtothem.Thispositiveperception by local people provides a unique opportunity to use thisspecies as a flagship for the conservation of the remaining Nothofagusforestintheregion.Usingmovementandgeneticdataweaimtounderstand1)howroostingandbreedingcavitiesaffects thespatialstructureof individual territories,2)how landscape featuresandsocialbehavioraffects spatial structureofterritories within local populations, 3) how forest degradation impactsnatal dispersal, 4) how landscape structure determines regional geneticpopulation structure, and 5) how climate change will likely affect thepopulationviabilityofMagellanicwoodpeckers.Our results show how a combination of methods can precisely informmanagement actions towards the conservation of the habitat of thischarismaticspeciesforitsuseasaflagship,indicatorandumbrellaspecies.


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DoesCollaredFlycatcherbenefitfromnestinginwoodpecker-madecavitiesundertheconditionsoftheprimevalforest?

Wiesław Walankiewicz, Dorota Czeszczewik, Grzegorz Bednarczyk,TomaszStański,AnnaKapusta

WecollecteddataonbreedingbiologyoftheCollaredFlycatcherFicedulaalbicollis in oak-lime-hornbeam stands of the Bialowieza National Park(BNP) in 1988 - 2018. During breeding season, we were looking for itsbreedingcavitiesandeachnest-sitewas individuallyclassified intooneoftwo categories: woodpecker-made (excavated by woodpecker) and non-excavated (cavities formed by decay or damage). All cavities and cavitytreesweredescribedandmeasured.TheCollaredFlycatcher isknownforheavy breeding losses caused by various predators (i. e. mustelids,woodpeckers, rodents). We determined the breeding success of >180broodsof theCollared Flycatcher inwoodpecker-made cavities and>900broods in natural cavities. Flycatcher’s broods in natural (non-excavated)cavities were safer than those placed in woodpecker-made cavities. Anaverage more than 50% of successful broods were in non-excavatedcavities,whileonlyonethirdofbroodsinwoodpecker-madecavitiesweresuccessful.GLZModelincludedfivequantitativeexplanatoryvariables(treedbh, height above the ground,width of the entrance, cavity volume andcavity depth) and three qualitative variables (cavity origin, tree conditionandinclinationoftheentrance).Theonlyvariableinfluencedbroodsafetywas the cavity origin – nests located in woodpecker-made holes weresignificantlymoreoftendestroyedbypredatorsthantheselocatedinnon-excavatedcavities.InviewofabovetheroleofwoodpeckersascreatorsofsuitablebreedingsitesfortheCollaredFlycatcherisquestionedunderthenaturalconditionsoftheprimevalstandsofBNP.

Drivers of seasonal decline in reproduction in the cooperativelybreedingacornwoodpecker

EricL.Walters,WaltKoenig

Clutchsizeandreproductivesuccessdeclineseasonallyinawiderangeoftemperateaviantaxa.Twocompetinghypotheseshavebeenproposedtoexplainsuchdeclines:the“timing”hypothesis,whichstatesthatconditionsaffecting reproduction decline intrinsically with date, and the “quality”hypothesis, which proposes that high-quality individuals or individuals inhigh-quality situations breed earlier. We contrasted the relative


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importance of these two hypotheses using a long-term dataset of thecooperatively-breeding acorn woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) incentral coastalCalifornia (USA). Thispopulationexhibits an11% seasonaldeclineinclutchsize,a60%seasonaldeclineinfledgingsuccess,anda77%seasonaldeclineinfledglingoverwintersurvival.Clutchsizetracksseasonalavailability of flying insects, which are a likely ecological driver of theseasonaldeclineinreproductionand,becauseofthenonlinearrelationshipof flying insects with date, constitute a likely factor constraining evenearliernesting.Byparsing laydatedata intowithin-femaleandbetween-femalecomponents,wefoundthatonlythewithin-femalecomponenthadastatisticallysignificantdirecteffectonclutchsize,supportingthetiminghypothesis. For both fledging success and overwinter survival, however,both within- and between-female effects were highly significant, withbetween-femaleeffects(differencesinfemalequality)beingstrongerthanwithin-female effects. These results suggest that timing per se is a keyfactor affecting the seasonal decline in clutch size, but that bothdifferencesinfemalequalityandanintrinsicseasonaldeclineinconditionsdrive the even more dramatic seasonal declines in fledging success andoverwintersurvivorshipoffledglings.

GeographicvariationineffectsofchangingclimateonproductivityofanendangeredwoodpeckerinthesoutheasternUnitedStates

JeffreyWalters,StephanieDeMay

Manytemperatebirdspeciesarebreedingearlierinresponsetowarmingtemperatures, and early nesters are often more successful than latenesters.Weusedboostedregressiontreemodelstoexaminetheeffectsofclimate on productivity in 19 populations of the Red-cockadedWoodpecker (RCW; Picoides borealis), an endangered woodpeckerendemictopineforestsinthesoutheasternUnitedStates.Breedingseasontemperaturesare increasingrange-wide,andRCWsincoastalpopulationsare nesting earlier in response. However, advances in nesting date overtimehavenotbeenaccompaniedbyproductivity increases.This suggeststhat benefits of early nesting evident within a year do not apply acrossyears,andthatRCWsincoastalpopulationsmustadjusttimingofbreedingto maintain baseline productivity. Changes in productivity in inlandpopulationscorrelatedwithchangesinlayingdate,whichwereadvanced,delayed or unchanged depending on the population. Small RCW groupswere less robust than larger groups to shifts in climate. Geographic


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patterns included higher productivity at higher latitudes, and decliningproductivity in the southwesternportionof the range. The latter patternwasdirectlyrelatedtogeographicvariationinclimatechange.TheRCWisa conservation-reliant habitat specialist with little capacity to shift itsrange,soitslong-termviabilitydependsonitsabilitytoadapttochanginglocalconditions.

Local recruitment and natal dispersal in the Northern Flicker,amigratorywoodpecker

KarenL.Wiebe

Local recruitment rates and natal dispersal has beenwell-studied in twocooperatively-breedingwoodpeckerspeciesbutnotinotherwoodpeckerswithbiparentalcare.Itestedhypothesesaboutnataldispersalusinglong-termdata fromapopulationofNorthernFlickers inBritishColumbiathatwas monitored for 16 years. Flickers are migratory and of 8272 bandedfledglings, the average annual local recruitment rate across all yearswas2.97%. Female fledglings recruited into the local population at asignificantly lower rate (2.55%) than males (3.36%) suggesting that thenataldispersaldistanceof femaleswas longer.Amongyears, recruitmentrates varied from 0.7-6.1% and were positively related to springtemperatures and local breeding density in the year of settlement.Recruitmentwas not associatedwith the breeding density in the year ofhatch.Heavy fledglings and those hatched earlier in the yearweremorelikely to recruit locally. Of local recruits, females (n = 105) settled onaverage 3.6 km from their natal cavity and males (n = 138) settled onaverage3.0 kmawaybut thisdistancedidnotdifferbetween sexes. Themajorityoflocalrecruits(57%)stillhadoneorbothparentspresentonthestudy site when they settled but there was no case of breeding withparents or siblings. The natal dispersal distance was not associated withwhetherornottherewasaparentoftheoppositesexonthestudyareasoinbreeding avoidancewas not driving dispersal patterns at a small scale.Male, but not female, local recruits that settled closer to their natal sitehad earlier laying dates than local recruits that settled farther away,suggesting that knowledge of the habitat around the natal site mayfacilitate finding a cavity tree and establishing a territory for malesbreedingforthefirsttime.


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POSTERS

POSTER1

Rapid and intensive foraging activity of woodpeckers afterconservation-orientedmanagement

Réka Aszalós, Zoltán Elek, Tamás Frank, Krisztián Harmos, SzabolcsCsernák,ViktorSzigeti

By mimicking natural disturbances, complex conservation-orientedmanagementwasimplementedina32haeven-agedoak-dominatedforestin Hungary. The active management actions were implemented in thewinterof2015-2016andincludedthegirdlingofstandinglivingtrees,barkstrippingoftreeindividuals,fellingtocreatedownedwoods,highstumps,and gaps in the canopy. The foraging activity of fivewoodpecker speciesandnuthatchwasdetected soonafter the treatmentson themajorityofthetreatedtrees.Visual feedingsignsurveywascarriedoutoneandtwoyears following the active management actions. Foraging activity wasdescribedasapercentage,differentiating treeparts (i.e. trunk,branches)and feeding depth categories (i.e. outer bark, inner bark, sapwood). Theinvestigated 110 tree individuals represented five treatment types:wounded-, girdled-, downed tree, low and high stump.We analyzed therelation of the three background variables (tree part, feeding depth,treatment type) and the two temporal replicates of the feeding activitywithGeneralized LinearModels.Our results showed the rapid answer ofwoodpeckers by the fast colonization of the treated trees. We found asignificantdifferencebetweentreatmenttypesinforagingactivity;girdledtrees, high and low stumps attracted the highest activity. Differencebetween years in foraging activity was also revealed; higher activity wasrecordedonthehighandlowstumpsthanonanyothertreatmenttypein2017,thesecondsurveyin2018detectedthecolonizationofgirdledtreesanddownedwoods.Highestforagingactivitywasfoundontheouterbark,but feeding on the inner bark and sapwood increased between the twosurveys. As woodpeckers are the primary cavity excavators in thesehabitats, we discuss how our results can assist policymakers in thedevelopmentofconservationstrategies.


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POSTER2

Arewoodpeckerskeyprovidersofbatroosts?

JordiCamprodon

Woodpeckershavebeendescribedaskeyspeciesasprovidersofsuitableroostsforothervertebratespecies.Thishypothesisisassessedin6speciesofforestbats:Nyctaluslasiopterus,N.noctula,N.leisleri,Plecotusauritus,Barbastella barbastellus and Myotis alcathoe in managed forests of theNortheastern Iberian Peninsula, by means of radio tracking. Due tospecialisation in roost selection, only noctule species, the largest forestspecialist bat species, roost usually inside woodpeckers’ nests, and theyshowapreferencefor largecavities.Noctulesoccupiedoldnestsofgreatspotted woodpecker and green woodpecker. Most of the nests werelocatedindeadordecayingtrees.Nodiscriminationisestablishedforthistypeofrefuge.Woodpeckerholesareselectedbecausetheyaretheonlylarge cavitieshighly available inmanaged forests.However, they canuseother large cavities, if available. Where woodpecker’s holes are notavailable, noctules are not found. Therefore, in the managed forestsstudied, where natural cavities are very scarce, woodpeckers are keyspeciestoprovidesuitableroostforbats.Wesuggesttheconservationofthesetreesandtherestorationofcavitiesbybandingfurthertrees.

POSTER3

Assessment of the habitat conservation status for White-backedWoodpecker territories (Dendrocopos leucotos lilfordi) in severalNATURA2000areasinNavarra(Spain)

SusanaCárcamo,OscarSchwendtner

The habitat suitability for White-backed Woodpecker (Dendrocoposleucotos lilfordi) is closely linked to the forestmaturity degree.Weworkwith structural parameters to find out what are the key factors thatdifferentiatethestandswherethespeciesisbreedingfromtheothers.Forpracticalpurposes,wetrytocreateasimplemanagementtoolthatallowstoallocatea“habitatconservationobjectivecategory"forthestandswherethe species is present or not. The different categories are: not suitable,marginalconditions,goodconditions,verygoodconditions.Thestructuraldatawehavemeasuredineachstandare:-Proportionofdifferenttreespecies.


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-Rangeofdiametersandmaximumdiameterfound.-Basalareaandvolumeoflivingwood.-Canopyheight.-Numberofverticallayers.-Proportionandsizeofgapsinthecanopy.-Amountofdeadwood(standingandonsoil).-Numberofbigtrees(DBH>45cm).Withthisclassificationwehopetodeterminewhattheconservationstatusfortheseterritoriesare,inordertodesignarightforestmanagementthatallowstomaintainthespeciesinthelongterm.

POSTER4

Is low breeding success the cause of the decline of the LesserSpottedWoodpecker(Dryobatesminor)inUK?

ElisabethCharman,PaulBellamy,KenW.Smith,LindaSmith

Inthispaperweexaminetheevidencethat lowbreedingsuccess isakeyfactordrivingthedeclineoftheLesserSpottedWoodpeckerintheUK.Weuse nest records from the British Trust for Ornithology, results from ashort-term RSPB study and recent data collected by a citizen scienceproject (www.woodpecker-network.org.uk)toexplorethesupport forthelowbreedingsuccesshypothesis.TheLesserSpottedWoodpecker isdeclining inEurope, severely so in theUK.Ashort-termintensivestudyintheUKfrom2005-2009identifiedlowbreeding success as a possible driver of the decline. Loss of chicks,probably linked to food availability, was the main cause of nest failurealthough nest predation was a subsidiary factor. At the time, too fewnestingattemptswerebeingrecordednationallyintheUKtotestwhetherthis was a widespread problem. In response to this, a citizen scienceproject was initiated in 2015 to increase the number of Lesser SpottedWoodpeckernestingattemptsmonitoredintheUK.Videonestinspectioncamerasareusedtomonitornestcontentsandoutcomes.Therearenowsufficientdatatore-examinethelowbreedingsuccesshypothesisandsetthisinthelong-termcontext.


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POSTER5

Factors affecting population fluctuations of White-backedWoodpeckerinaold-growthbeechforestofCentralItaly

EmilianoDeSantis,ValentinaCapraro,LeonardoSongini,LeonardoPucci,Giulio Lariccia, Alberto Dominici, Emanuela Fabrizi, Ilaria Guj, StefanoDonfrancesco,JacopoG.Cecere,SimonaImperio

Assessingthe impactofdensityandclimatic factorsonanimalpopulationfluctuations isapersistentchallengeinecology. Inthisstudyweanalyzedfactors affecting population dynamics of White-backed WoodpeckerDendrocopos leucotos lilfordi (WbW) breeding in the old-growth beechforestofMontiSimbruiniNaturalRegionalPark (Central Italy),where thespeciesisthesubjectofalong-termmonitoring(2004-present)carriedoutbyparkauthority.Aplaybackprotocolwascarriedoutatleasttwiceeveryspring(March-May)at26fixedstationslocated1200to1700metersa.s.l.Datawereusedtocalculateyearlypopulationgrowthrate(betweenyeart-1andyeart),whichwasthenputinrelationwiththeindexesofpopulationabundance of previous two years (t-1 and t-2) and a number ofmeteorologicalvariablesrelativetodifferentphasesofWbWlifecycle.Ourstudy population exhibited a cyclic pattern, with a period of five years,without a significant linear trend. We found in fact that populationdynamicswasstronglydrivenbybothdirect(t-1)anddelayed(t-2)densitydependence,whoseeffectonpopulationgrowthrateislikelymediatedbydetrimental consequences of high densities of breeders on breedingsuccess and juveniles growth. Population growth ratewas also positivelyaffectedbytemperatures inMayandJuneofyeart-1,whichlikelyfavourfledglings survival. Finally, population growth was negatively affected bytemperatureandprecipitation in Januaryof year t-1,whose combinationmayincreaseicingwhichinturnmaydelaybreedingattempts,withknownconsequencesonbreedingperformances.ThestrongdensitydependenceofWbWpopulationdynamichighlightstheexigencyofthespeciestorelyon rich habitats where food resources are not a limitation for breedingoutputs.


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POSTER6

Assessing “cryptic” woodpecker distribution with citizen science:theMiddleSpottedWoodpeckerintheBasqueCountry(NSpain)

JoséMaríaFernández-García

Although the Middle Spotted Woodpecker (Leiopicus medius) is notparticularlyelusive,distributiondepictedinbirdatlasthatrecordpresencewithoutusingspecies-specificmethodscanbeincompleteorunclear.Thisis probably related to a mismatch between the periods of higherdetectability and that of atlas fieldwork, and to the woodpecker’sbehavioural pattern of colonization-extinction of forest patches infragmentedlandscapes.IntheBasqueCountry,thecorepopulationoftheMiddle Spotted Woodpecker was not discovered until 1993 – thenestimatedatc.400pairs, inspiteoftwobreedingbirdatlas inthe1970’sand 1980’s. Moreover, smaller ranges later discovered had also goneunnoticed in theatlas carriedout in the1990’s.DuringMarch-April2017and2018,weassessed the fine-scale (1x1 km)distributionof theMiddleSpotted Woodpecker, aided by 17 skilled volunteers using standardizedandwoodpecker-targetedtechniques.Sampledquadrantswerepreviouslyselected for having a significant (>16%) proportion of oak-dominatedforest.Overall,recentMiddleSpottedWoodpeckerpresencewasdetectedin801x1kmquadrants,47%oftheinvestigated.Anotherspatiallydistinctand previously unnoticed range was discovered, and the boundaries ofranges peripheral to the core population were delineated. Although anincrease in distribution could explain the occurrence of these “new”ranges,evidence is lacking,and thepossibility that theymerelyhadgoneunnoticed ismoreplausible.On thecontrary, currentpresence in certainforestmassifswithpoorconnectivitytothecorepopulation,butwherethespecieshadbeenclaimedinthepast,wasnotconfirmed.Species-specificmethods are recommended to assess the Middle Spotted Woodpeckerdistribution, particularly if a spatial resolution adequate for conservationpractice is needed, and in peripheral, discrete ranges. Citizen science,providedthatstandardizedsamplingprotocolsareapplied,canbeausefultoolinthiscontext.


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POSTER7

Not only forests… Syrian woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus –urbanbirdofspecialimportance

TomaszFigarski

MostofEuropeanwoodpeckers live in forestsor forest-likehabitats. Theonly obvious exception is Syrian woodpeckerDendrocopos syriacus. Thisspecies occupies Middle East, but in XIX-XX centuries it had expandedacross the Balkans and Middle and Eastern Europe. In Europe, Syrianwoodpeckerinhabitsmostlyruralandurbanlandscapes,utilizingwoodsofanthropogenic origin. Populations of Syrian woodpecker, altogether withsympatricpopulationsofGreatspottedwoodpecker,werestudied in twoPolish cities in the Mazowieckie Voivodship. The main topics of thesestudies were: i) to determine the environmental factors crucial for theoccurrence of both species in cities, ii) to evaluate the differences inbehavioralreactionsofbothspeciesinresponsestoplaybackstimulation.Itwasevaluatedthatnichesofthesetwospeciesoverlappedinonly29%,what prove that they utilized other resources. Syrian woodpeckerpreferredscatteredwoodswithahighshareofwalnuts,fruittrees,poplarsand willows, especially of older age. On the other hand, Great spottedwoodpecker chose larger woods (e.g. parks) and could breed also inconiferoustrees.Behavioral studies showed that inpairsof Syrianwoodpeckerboth sexesdefend their territoriesand that females couldbeevenmoreactive thanmales (Greatspottedwoodpeckerdidnotshowsuchpattern).Moreover,Syrian woodpeckers were more active in direct interspecific interactionsthanGreatspottedwoodpeckers.These studies, besides broadening knowledge about the ecology andethology of Syrian andGreat spottedwoodpeckers in urbanpopulations,showed that co-occurring woodpeckers should not be omittedinpopulationresearch,whichareexecutedononlyoneofthesespeciesinsympatricpopulations.Moreover, itwasprovedthaturbanenvironmentsare important and undervalued sites for Syrian woodpecker occurrenceandthatforeffectiveconservationofthisspeciescrucialismaintenanceofoldorchardsandsoftwoodtrees.


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POSTER8

New information on the breeding biology of theMiddle SpottedWoodpecker

BarbaraFroehlich-Schmitt

Unusual behaviour of nestlings clambering out of and back into the nesthole was filmed at two nests. Additionally, visits to three nest holesoccupied by nestlings by Starlings andGreat SpottedWoodpeckerswererecorded. Further occurrenceswere recorded of the feeding of nestlingswithivyberriesand,forthefirsttime,withpoplarseeds.

POSTER9

MicroclimateofGreatSpottedWoodpeckernestholesinlivinganddeadtrees

GrzegorzHebda

Thefunctionofbirds’nestdesignistominimizethedetrimentaleffectsofpredatorandparasitepressureandtoprovideasuitablemicroclimatefordevelopingnestlings. The insulating functionof holesmaybeparticularlyimportantforwoodpeckers,whosenestlingshatchnakedandincapableofthermoregulationforat leastaweek. Insufficient insulationfromambientconditionsmay cause hypothermia during coldweather or hyperthermiaonhotdays.Asthemicroclimateofholescanvarywithpositiononatreeand internal dimensions, birds should excavate (or use) holes with themostfavorablecharacteristics.Ipresentdataonairtemperatureandhumidityintreeholesusedasnestsites by Great SpottedWoodpeckers (Dendrocopos major). Studies wereperformed in the oak-lime-hornbeam stands of the Białowieża PrimevalForest, using temperature and humidity loggers. I discuss how the nesthole’s dimensions and its position on a tree influence the microclimatewithin.Particularattentionwasputtoanalysesofmicroclimateinrespecttotheconditionofthenesttreeandthelocationoftheholeinalivingordeadsubstrate.


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POSTER10

Will our woodpeckers soon start breeding in “winter”? Theadvance of fledging date in Great Spotted Woodpecker(Dendrocoposmajor)–triggers,benefitsandrisks

RudolfHennes

Oneoftheobviouseffectsofclimatechangeisthatsomebirdpopulationsadvance the timing of the breeding. E.g. red-cockaded woodpeckers(Picoidesborealis)havebeenobservedtolayearlieryearbyyear,andearlylayingfemalesaregenerallymoreproductivethanlatelayingones(ScHIEGGET AL, 2002). The advancing of the laying date correlates with increasingtemperature, however the climate change related triggers for egg-layingremain unknown. Apparently daylength is not an effective trigger forspecieswhichadvanceegg-layingwithclimatechange.Apotential advantageofadvancingegg-laying is that the synchronisationwith temperature dependent food sources can be assured (for an over-viewseeBothinMølleretal.2010).However,ifthefoodspeciesreactinadifferentwayontheclimatechangethanwoodpeckers,mis-timingmightbetheconsequence.Infact,theGreatSpottedWoodpecker(GSW)belongsto the bird species whose breeding success depends on thesynchronisation of the availability of tree-living caterpillars, the mostrelevantfoodsourcetorearchicks,andthereforeitmightdependonthecapacitytoadvanceegg-layinginlinewithclimatechange.The author monitors a colour-banded population of GSWs since 2006.Breeding success and date of fledging are being registered annually.Fledging dates have advanced at a rate of some 0,6 days/year over thatperiod. IncomparisonwitholderstudiesfromwesternGermanyonGSW,themediumfledgingdatehasadvancedbysome18daysoverthelast60.Apparently, the rate of advancement is now higher than in previousdecades.To understand better the annual variation of laying dates, potentialtriggersliketemperatureanddevelopmentofvegetationwillbeanalysed.Advancingegg-layingduetofavourableconditionsbearstheriskthattheseconditionsdonotprevailover thewholebreedingperiod.TheeffectofacoldspellandthereactionoftheGSWscouldbestudied in2017.Ontheother hand, the persistent warm weather in 2018 indicated that underfavourable conditions a high breeding success even without asynchronisation with the availability of caterpillars could be possible. Icome to the conclusion that despite some flexibility and adjustments


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climatechangemightbecomeathreattothereproductionsuccessofGSWandmay-beotherwoodpeckerspecies.Literature:Both,C.(2010):Foodavailability,mis-timingandclimatechangein:MøllerA.P.,W.Fiedler&P.Berthold:EffectofClimateChangeonBirds.OxfordUniversityPress2010.

Schiegg, K.,G. Pasinelli, J.Walters& S.Daniels (2002): Inbreeding andexperience affectsresponsetoclimatechangebyendangeredwoodpeckers.Proc.R.Soc.Lond.B269,1153-1159.

POSTER11

Home range size and utilization by the three-toed woodpeckerduringbreedingseason

KrzysztofKajzer,WojciechSobociński,PatrykRowiński,KarolZub

Thethree-toedwoodpecker(Picoidestridactylus)isnotgloballythreatened(Least Concern according to IUCN criteria), but due to specific ecologicalneeds is rather scarce inmostpartsof itsdistribution range.This speciesinhabits mature boreal and montane mixed coniferous forest, where itnestsincavitiesexcavatedindeadconifersandfeedsonlarvaeandpupaeof bark-beetles. The three-toed woodpecker could be locally numerous,e.g. in the Białowieża Forest, but our knowledge about habitatrequirements and spatial ecology of this species is very limited. In years2014-2015,duringbreedingseason(May-July),wefollowed8individuals(4femalesand4males)equippedwithVHFtransmitters,attachedtothetailfeathers. Total home range sizes calculated as 95% minimum-convexpolygon(MCP)variedbetween484ha

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